Nearly two-dozen robberies of local Dunkin’ Donuts stores have spurred area police to form a task force and pushed the Canton-based doughnut company to quadruple its reward for information leading to the capture of the armed and masked bandit.

Nearly two-dozen robberies of local Dunkin’ Donuts stores have spurred area police to form a task force and pushed the Canton-based doughnut company to quadruple its reward for information leading to the capture of the armed and masked bandit.

The most recent holdup happened Tuesday night in Rockland just off Route 3, less than 24 hours after two other Dunkin’ Donuts shops – one in Bedford, the other in Burlington – were also robbed.

Police from 15 cities and towns where the robberies have taken place met Wednesday at Norwood police headquarters to strategize about how to stop the crime spree. Twenty-two doughnut shops have been robbed since March.

Norwood police Lt. Peter Kelly was tight-lipped about the summit, saying simply that police departments are sharing information in an active investigation.

Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. has upped its reward from $2,500 to $10,000, hoping to lure tips to police. Kelly welcomed the action.

“A $10,000 reward is great because somebody out there knows who’s doing these (robberies),” he said.

The Dunkin’ Donuts robbery spree includes holdups in Canton, Norwood, Walpole, Westwood, Plainville, Norton, North Attleboro, Easton and several other towns. The same Canton location was held up twice, on June 30 and July 24.

Rockland Police Lt. Nick Zeoli said police in neighboring towns are working closely with each other, sharing tips and evidence. Investigators believe the robber isn’t working alone, Zeoli said.

“We do think there’s multiple people involved, possibly a vehicle involved and (a driver) waiting for them,” he said Wednesday.

In Tuesday night’s Rockland robbery, police said the suspect entered through a side door, pointed a black handgun at a female clerk and demanded all the money. The clerk gave him all the cash from the registers, and the man fled through the same door.

The suspect was wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, dark pants, a mask and black gloves.

Duxbury police said the robber might also be the same man who held up a convenience store there at gunpoint two hours after the holdup in Rockland.

Chief Matthew Clancy said the Verc’s Duxbury Gulf at Hall’s Corner was robbed just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. In that robbery, a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt, gloves and a mask demanded money from a clerk at gunpoint and then fled on foot.

Clancy believes the suspect had planned to rob the Dunkin’ Donuts across from the gas station but the coffee shop was closed.

“If this is the same individual (in all 22 robberies), this person will be caught. You don’t go to the well that many times,” Clancy said. “With every incident, the opportunity for someone to get hurt increases. Each one is a ticking time bomb. So we want to put this to rest.’’

Page 2 of 2 - Olga Pithis, who owns three Dunkin’ Donuts shops in Boston, said the robberies have put her on edge.

“I am worried about my employees,” she said Wednesday. “It’s got to be one sly person who’s planning well and casing (the stores), knowing when it’s not going to be busy. He’s terrorizing employees in some cases.”

Pithis doesn’t blame police but said she is surprised they haven’t been able to make an arrest.

“It’s pretty scary they haven’t been able to figure out his next move so they can catch him,” she added.

Bill Sullivan, taking a break from his job in Norwell on Wednesday, stopped at the Rockland doughnut shop that was robbed.

“It’s eye-opening,” Sullivan said. “It wouldn’t sway me from coming in here during the day but I wouldn’t want to come in at night.”

Eduardo DeOliveira, walking out of the coffee shop Wednesday afternoon, said he works next door at a motel and that police came there to look at cameras to see if they caught sight of the suspect.